ISBT London 2013 - 28th-30th June

Thank you to all who entered - I hope you had a great weekend!

The London ISBT committee is delighted to announce the 1st International SoliBad Badminton Tournament to be held in London (details about the SoliBad charity below). The tournament will take place at Sobell Leisure Centre (N7 7NY), London on the weekend of 28th-30th June 2013 and has been sanctioned by Badminton England. This first year the tournament consists of 2 full days of badminton, and three evenings of entertainment!

The tournament is a charity event organized as a part of the official SoliBad day 2013 and is based on the very successful International Student Badminton Tournament format. A Swiss Ladder tournament system will be operated catering for all levels of play (18+ adult's only) from complete beginner to advanced player, with equal amounts of badminton for all involved. There will be 4 grades and partners will be drawn at random. Singles, doubles and mixed competitions will be played (2 disciplines per participant) with all individuals’ scores contributing to their overall team score.

Teams can enter from 1 to 25 (max) people. If a team wishes to enter more players than this – they must contact the committee directly. Overall team scores at the end are averaged by the number of participants (minimum of 5 on a team to be eligible for the team prize) to determine the winning team. Registration is on Friday 28th from 7pm in "The Coronet", 338 Holloway Road and play will begin at 9am Saturday 29 th June 2013 and continue on Sunday. After play on both days there will be dinner, entertainment and on Sunday, prize-givings. Breakfast and lunch on both days will be provided also.

Fee: £50 or €55 per person

Closing date is Friday 31st May 2013 - or earlier, if deposits are received for the maximum capacity of entrants

Deposits of £20 or €25 per player is essential to guarantee entry places. Remainder to be paid at registration

3.Go to the payments page to see methods of payment - paypal or bank transfer

This tournament is not for profit and any budget excess will be donated to the SoliBad charity

SoliBad charity
For information about the SoliBad charity please refer to its website www.SoliBad.net

Travel details:
Getting to London – You have many choices fly to; Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Southend or City airports are all London’s airports. From each, there is public transport to get into the city centre, and from there the Tube can take you where you need to go.
Tip – use www.tfl.gov.uk to plan your journey around London and use an Oyster card for cheaper fares on public transport.

Getting from tube to Sobell Leisure Centre is really easy to get to from Holloway Road tube station or from Finsbury Park tube station – just 10 mins walk from either. Holloway Road is on the Piccadilly line only, and Finsbury Park is on both the Piccadilly and Victoria tube lines.
Tube tip – Do not get off the Tube at Arsenal – it’s literally on the wrong side of the tracks even though it looks close by. To get to Sobell from there, you’ll pretty much have to walk back to one of the other stations!

Accommodation:

There isn't much by way of decent budget hotels within very close proximity to Sobell, but London's famous Underground means getting to and fro is relatively easy. The majority of the suggestions below are centred near King's Cross station as this is well under 30 mins from the hall by public transport and well connected for those travelling to and from the city for the weekend. Also, it makes getting home from nights out easier and cheaper for people if most are going in the same general direction! All accommodation in London will fill up quickly at this time of year so please book early if you want your team to be together and within a reasonable distance to Sobell.

Clink Hostels, Kings Cross - These are 2 sister hostels within walking distance of King's Cross. Clink 261 is described as "boutique" and is closer to the station, whereas Clink 78 appears to be more of a party-friendly hostel.

Crestfield Hotel Kings Cross - No lifts so be sure to say you have heavy bags with sports gear & equipment and want a lower floor room if possible. (Also the lower rooms are bigger) Very limited spaces here, but had to be included as it has a 24 hour bar!

Theme:
The theme of this year’s tournament is the "London Underground". We picked this for a number of reasons:

its colourful tube lines are a similar scheme to the SoliBad logo

it's an icon of London & is 150 years old this year

there are a massive number of fancy dress possibilities with all the tube station names (for some ideas look here)

We look forward to seeing representatives from your Club/University/Country at what will be a highly enjoyable tournament for all involved. If you have any questions please contact the committee at ISBTLondon@gmail.com or post on our facebook page